Vatican Radio
REPORT/IMAGE: "Peter and Paul much as they differ from one another in human
terms and notwithstanding the conflicts that arose in their relationship,
illustrate a new way of being brothers, lived according to the Gospel, an
authentic way made possible by the grace of Christ’s Gospel working within
them". "Only by following Jesus does one arrive at this new brotherhood”; this
according to Pope Benedict XVI is the fundamental message of the Solemnity of
Sts Peter and Paul.The Pope’s focus
on communion and brotherhood took on particular emphasis this year, given the
presence of a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and
the Westminster Abbey schola cantorum. Their plain chants – together with the
Sistine Chapel choir – enriched the liturgy which took place within the cool
marble vaults of St Peter’s basilica. A liturgy which also saw the Pope bestow
the pallium upon 40 Metropolitan Archbishops.

In his homily the Holy
Father drew attention to the two giant statues of Peter and Paul that hold vigil
over St Peter’s square. He said : "Christian tradition has always considered
Saint Peter and Saint Paul to be inseparable: indeed, together, they represent
the whole Gospel of Christ. In Rome, their bond as brothers in the faith came to
acquire a particular significance”.

“Only by following Jesus does one
arrive at this new brotherhood this is the first and fundamental message that
today’s solemnity presents to each one of us, the importance of which is
mirrored in the pursuit of full communion, so earnestly desired by the
ecumenical Patriarch and the Bishop of Rome, as indeed by all Christians. "

Drawing from the Gospel of the day (Matthew 16: 13-19), Pope Benedict
went on to reflect on the drama of Peter (and the papacy) " the acknowledgment
of Jesus’ identity” not “through flesh and blood”, that is, through his human
capacities, but through a particular revelation from God the Father".

Pope Benedict said :"Here we see the tension that exists between the
gift that comes from the Lord and human capacities; and in this scene between
Jesus and Simon Peter we see anticipated in some sense the drama of the history
of the papacy itself, characterized by the joint presence of these two elements:
on the one hand, because of the light and the strength that come from on high,
the papacy constitutes the foundation of the Church during its pilgrimage
through history; on the other hand, across the centuries, human weakness is also
evident, which can only be transformed through openness to God’s
action."

Finally, Pope Benedict spoke of "power of the keys" – symbol of
the Petrine Ministry a key issue in the current phase of ecumenical dialogue -
to "bind and loose": "The two images – that of the keys and that of binding and
loosing – express similar meanings which reinforce one another. The expression
“binding and loosing” forms part of rabbinical language and refers on the one
hand to doctrinal decisions, and on the other hand to disciplinary power, that
is, the faculty to impose and to lift excommunication. The parallelism “on earth
... in the heavens” guarantees that Peter’s decisions in the exercise of this
ecclesial function are valid in the eyes of God".Below is the official English tranlation of the Holy
Father's Homily during Mass on the Feast of Saint's Peter and Paul. During the
celebration the Pope conferred the Pallium on new Metropolitan
Archbishops.Homily on the Feast of Saints Peter and
PaulSaint Peter’s Basilica, 29 June
2012Your Eminences,Brother Bishops and Priests,Dear Brothers and
Sisters,

We are gathered around the altar for our solemn celebration of
Saints Peter and Paul, the principal Patrons of the Church of Rome. Present with
us today are the Metropolitan Archbishops appointed during the past year, who
have just received the Pallium, and to them I extend a particular and
affectionate greeting. Also present is an eminent Delegation from the Ecumenical
Patriarchate of Constantinople, sent by His Holiness Bartholomaios I, and I
welcome them with fraternal and heartfelt gratitude. In an ecumenical spirit, I
am also pleased to greet and to thank the Choir of Westminster Abbey, who are
providing the music for this liturgy alongside the CappellaSistina. I also greet the Ambassadors and civil Authorities present. I am
grateful to all of you for your presence and your prayers.In front of Saint
Peter’s Basilica, as is well known, there are two imposing statues of Saint
Peter and Saint Paul, easily recognizable by their respective attributes: the
keys in the hand of Peter and the sword held by Paul. Likewise, at the main
entrance to the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, there are depictions
of scenes from the life and the martyrdom of these two pillars of the Church.
Christian tradition has always considered Saint Peter and Saint Paul to be
inseparable: indeed, together, they represent the whole Gospel of Christ. In
Rome, their bond as brothers in the faith came to acquire a particular
significance. Indeed, the Christian community of this City considered them a
kind of counterbalance to the mythical Romulus and Remus, the two brothers held
to be the founders of Rome. A further parallel comes to mind, still on the theme
of brothers: whereas the first biblical pair of brothers demonstrate the effects
of sin, as Cain kills Abel, yet Peter and Paul, much as they differ from one
another in human terms and notwithstanding the conflicts that arose in their
relationship, illustrate a new way of being brothers, lived according to the
Gospel, an authentic way made possible by the grace of Christ’s Gospel working
within them. Only by following Jesus does one arrive at this new brotherhood:
this is the first and fundamental message that today’s solemnity presents to
each one of us, the importance of which is mirrored in the pursuit of full
communion, so earnestly desired by the ecumenical Patriarch and the Bishop of
Rome, as indeed by all Christians.

In the passage from Saint Matthew’s
Gospel that we have just heard, Peter makes his own confession of faith in
Jesus, acknowledging him as Messiah and Son of God. He does so in the name of
the other Apostles too. In reply, the Lord reveals to him the mission that he
intends to assign to him, that of being the “rock”, the visible foundation on
which the entire spiritual edifice of the Church is built (cf. Mt
16:16-19). But in what sense is Peter the rock? How is he to exercise this
prerogative, which naturally he did not receive for his own sake? The account
given by the evangelist Matthew tells us first of all that the acknowledgment of
Jesus’ identity made by Simon in the name of the Twelve did not come “through
flesh and blood”, that is, through his human capacities, but through a
particular revelation from God the Father. By contrast, immediately afterwards,
as Jesus foretells his passion, death and resurrection, Simon Peter reacts on
the basis of “flesh and blood”: he “began to rebuke him, saying, this shall
never happen to you” (16:22). And Jesus in turn replied: “Get behind me, Satan!
You are a hindrance to me ...” (16:23). The disciple who, through God’s gift,
was able to become a solid rock, here shows himself for what he is in his human
weakness: a stone along the path, a stone on which men can stumble – in Greek,
skandalon. Here we see the tension that exists between the gift that
comes from the Lord and human capacities; and in this scene between Jesus and
Simon Peter we see anticipated in some sense the drama of the history of the
papacy itself, characterized by the joint presence of these two elements: on the
one hand, because of the light and the strength that come from on high, the
papacy constitutes the foundation of the Church during its pilgrimage through
history; on the other hand, across the centuries, human weakness is also
evident, which can only be transformed through openness to God’s
action.

And in today’s Gospel there emerges powerfully the clear promise
made by Jesus: “the gates of the underworld”, that is, the forces of evil, will
not prevail, “nonpraevalebunt”. One is reminded of the account of
the call of the prophet Jeremiah, to whom the Lord said, when entrusting him
with his mission: “Behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar,
and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its
princes, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you;
but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to
deliver you!” (Jer 1:18-19). In truth, the promise that Jesus makes to
Peter is even greater than those made to the prophets of old: they, indeed, were
threatened only by human enemies, whereas Peter will have to be defended from
the “gates of the underworld”, from the destructive power of evil. Jeremiah
receives a promise that affects him as a person and his prophetic ministry;
Peter receives assurances concerning the future of the Church, the new community
founded by Jesus Christ, which extends to all of history, far beyond the
personal existence of Peter himself.Let us move on now to the symbol of the
keys, which we heard about in the Gospel. It echoes the oracle of the prophet
Isaiah concerning the steward Eliakim, of whom it was said: “And I will place on
his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut;
and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Is 22:22). The key represents
authority over the house of David. And in the Gospel there is another saying of
Jesus addressed to the scribes and the Pharisees, whom the Lord reproaches for
shutting off the kingdom of heaven from people (cf. Mt 23:13). This
saying also helps us to understand the promise made to Peter: to him, inasmuch
as he is the faithful steward of Christ’s message, it belongs to open the gate
of the Kingdom of Heaven, and to judge whether to admit or to refuse (cf.
Rev 3:7). Hence the two images – that of the keys and that of binding and
loosing – express similar meanings which reinforce one another. The expression
“binding and loosing” forms part of rabbinical language and refers on the one
hand to doctrinal decisions, and on the other hand to disciplinary power, that
is, the faculty to impose and to lift excommunication. The parallelism “on earth
... in the heavens” guarantees that Peter’s decisions in the exercise of this
ecclesial function are valid in the eyes of God.

In Chapter 18 of
Matthew’s Gospel, dedicated to the life of the ecclesial community, we find
another saying of Jesus addressed to the disciples: “Truly I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 18:18). Saint John, in his account
of the appearance of the risen Christ in the midst of the Apostles on Easter
evening, recounts these words of the Lord: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you
forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven: if you retain the sins of any, they
are retained” (Jn 20:22-23). In the light of these parallels, it appears
clearly that the authority of loosing and binding consists in the power to remit
sins. And this grace, which defuses the powers of chaos and evil, is at the
heart of the Church’s ministry. The Church is not a community of the perfect,
but a community of sinners, obliged to recognize their need for God’s love,
their need to be purified through the Cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ sayings
concerning the authority of Peter and the Apostles make it clear that God’s
power is love, the love that shines forth from Calvary. Hence we can also
understand why, in the Gospel account, Peter’s confession of faith is
immediately followed by the first prediction of the Passion: through his death,
Jesus conquered the powers of the underworld, with his blood he poured out over
the world an immense flood of mercy, which cleanses the whole of humanity in its
healing waters.

Dear brothers and sisters, as I mentioned at the
beginning, the iconographic tradition represents Saint Paul with a sword, and we
know that this was the instrument with which he was killed. Yet as we read the
writings of the Apostle of the Gentiles, we discover that the image of the sword
refers to his entire mission of evangelization. For example, when he felt death
approaching, he wrote to Timothy: “I have fought the good fight” (2 Tim
4:7). This was certainly not the battle of a military commander but that of a
herald of the Word of God, faithful to Christ and to his Church, to which he
gave himself completely. And that is why the Lord gave him the crown of glory
and placed him, together with Peter, as a pillar in the spiritual edifice of the
Church.

Dear Metropolitan Archbishops, the Pallium that I have conferred
on you will always remind you that you have been constituted in and
for the great mystery of communion that is the Church, the spiritual
edifice built upon Christ as the cornerstone, while in its earthly and
historical dimension, it is built on the rock of Peter. Inspired by this
conviction, we know that together we are all cooperators of the truth, which as
we know is one and “symphonic”, and requires from each of us and from our
communities a constant commitment to conversion to the one Lord in the grace of
the one Spirit. May the Holy Mother of God guide and accompany us always along
the path of faith and charity. Queen of Apostles, pray for us!Amen.

ABUJA, June 26, 2012 (CISA) – Christian Solidarity
Worldwide (CSW) has launched 30 days of prayer for Nigeria in response to calls
for prayer from Nigerian Christians.The Christian organisation working for
religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice,
urged Christians around the world to also show their support.This comes in
the wake of terrorist threats from the insurgent group Boko Haram that claims to
have around 300 suicide bombers ready to attack churches and plans to make June
“the bloodiest month yet,” according to media reports.The Catholic Bishops
Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) vehemently criticized the attacks and counter
attacks saying, “…We feel greatly pained by the violent events which have become
almost daily occurrences.Time is rolling on and the situation of insecurity
in the land has not improved in any significant way…”The bishops expressed
concern in a statement sent to CISA on “the security situation in the country”
adding that the situation seems to be going from bad to worse, as terrorists
strike almost at will against innocent citizens all across the northern parts of
Nigeria.The Nigerian bishops called on the government to devise new security
measures to ensure safety for all. “It is a primary duty of government to ensure
security of life and property of citizens all over the nation. There can be no
excuse for failure in this primary duty,” they said.“Despite all the current
efforts by government, the nation is still under insecurity,” said the bishops.
They challenged the government to intensify security actions to make the nation
safe for all.They also called on Christians to continue praying fervently
for God’s protection, while promising to continue mobilizing and deploying
Church security arrangements within the ambit of the law, and in collaboration
with the state agencies.The bishops called on all Nigerians to join hands in
combating this common danger. “We call especially on the Muslim community in
Nigeria to do all in its power to reach out to those who foment, plan, encourage
and carry out these acts of violence in the name of Islam,” said the
bishopsSHARED FROM CISA NEWS

Australia
continues to be among the world's most generous. The Government may have decided
to trim the amount the nation spends on Foreign Aid in a bid to deliver a
surplus, but not every day Australians.For the first time ever Caritas, the
international aid and development arm of the Catholic Church has raised $10
million for Project Compassion 2012."This really is remarkable," says
Caritas Australia's CEO, Jack de Groot. "Even though times have been tough and
uncertain for many Australians over the past 12 months, our parishes, schools
and Church communities have given generously help support the world's
poor."Last year Project Compassion, Caritas' annual Lenten fund-raiser,
topped $9.7 million, an increase of more than $300,000 on the previous year's
total. But this year's total eclipsed even those.

Millions live in poverty and

desperately need our help

"The
amount donated this year is unprecedented and will ensure thousands of families
in the world's most impoverished communities are guaranteed life-saving
support," says Mr de Groot and admits that he and others at Caritas have been
"humbled" by Australians' big hearted generosity.

"I am reluctant to
reduce what the people of Australia's Catholic community have done to simple
dollars and cents because it is so much more that."Each year during Lent
communities, schools and parishes hold cake stalls, raffles, put on plays and
come up with novel ideas of ways to earn money for Caritas' Project Compassion
fundraiser.Now in its 47th year, Project Compassion is also supported by
corporations, organisations and individuals from all walks of life who find
friends, family and colleagues to sponsor them on walks, runs or cycle events to
raise funds the world's poor.All monies raised from this year's Project
Compassion will go to support communities in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin
America as well as Australia's remote Indigenous communities in northern
Australia.

Fish Friday 2012 raised more than $3000 for

Project Compassion

The world's
largest aid agency after Red Cross, Caritas Australia and Caritas agencies
globally provide ongoing help and assistance to impoverished communities.
Through education and improved agriculture, hygiene, medical care, accessible
fresh water and schools, teams from Caritas help communities break the cycle of
poverty and become self-sufficient."Caritas is about helping people help
themselves. It is also about delivering justice and peace which in turn leads to
stability and security," Mr de Groot explains.In addition to the ongoing
work of Caritas in more than 220 countries across the world, emergency relief is
also an important part of the agency's work. When natural disasters such as
earthquakes, floods or famine wreak havoc on populations around the world,
Caritas instantly responds, flying in teams to help victims as well as provide
them with shelter, tents, food, potable water and medical care.

Caritas is educating farmers in drought

resistant crops and livestock
retention

In the past year Caritas has been at the forefront of
emergencies ranging from South East Asia's devastating floods to Japan's tsunami
and the ongoing famines in West Africa as well as across the Horn of
Africa.Although Project Compassion officially ends with Easter, donations
which are fully tax deductible continue to be received with the fund remaining
open until tomorrow, 30 June which marks the end of the 2011-12 financial
year.To find out more about the work of Caritas and Project Compassion log
on to www.caritas.org.au SHARED
FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY

The Reverend Jean-Bernard Allard, P.S.S., former director
of the French Sector National
Liturgy Office of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
(CCCB),died this past June 22 at the age of 83. His funeral is
on June 30 at 10:30 a.m., in the Chapelle du Sacré-Coeur of Notre-Dame Basilica,
Montreal,
followed by burial in the crypt of the Grand Séminaire of Montreal. He was
ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Montreal on September 21, 1957, and
became member of the Sulpician Fathers in 1969. Father Allard joined the French
Sector National Liturgy Office in 1976 as assistant director, and become
director in May 1977. He continued as its director until the summer of
1987.

After talks
with the Priests' Initiative, a group which has vowed disobedience against the
Church, Cardinal Schoenborn has decided it is time to crack down.

Michael ShieldsAustriaJune 28, 2012

Austria’s Roman Catholic Church has laid down the
law to its rebel priests by telling them they could not support a reform
manifesto criticized by Pope Benedict and stay in an administrative post.One
priest told Reuters he had already stepped down from the post of deacon rather
than renounce the “Call to Disobedience” manifesto that challenges Church
teaching on taboo topics such as women’s ordination and offering communion to
non-Catholics.Another priest had withdrawn his support for the reform
campaign and kept his job, a Church spokesman said on Wednesday.He added
that two or three more have yet to decide whether to withdraw their support from
the manifesto from a reform group called “Priests’ Initiative” whose demands
have been echoed by some Catholic groups and clerics in Germany, Ireland,
Belgium and the United States.“You can easily remain a member of the
Priests’ Initiative. You must only distance yourself from the ‘Call to
Disobedience’ in an appropriate way,” Church spokesman Nikolaus Haselsteiner
said.“In an average company, a department head can’t say he doesn’t care
what the CEO says,” he added.The Vienna archdiocese said on Tuesday its
head, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, had told priests last month he would not
appoint manifesto supporters to the post of dean and those coming up for renewal
in the post would have to choose.Schoenborn, a close ally of Benedict, has
met the rebel priests, including their leader Rev Helmut Schueller. But
Tuesday’s announcement was the first sign he had taken steps to rein them
in.Schueller says his group represents 10 percent of the Austrian clergy.
The group has won broad public backing in opinion polls for its pledge to break
Church rules by giving communion to Protestants and divorced Catholics who
remarry.Rev Peter Meidinger, who was dean in a district of Vienna
archdiocese, said he stepped down from that post after Schoenborn made his
options clear in a recent conversation.“I spoke to the archbishop and
perhaps you cannot say I had to choose, but I had the impression that there was
no way out for me so I am stepping down and freeing up the spot,” he told
Reuters on Wednesday.SHARED FROM UCAN NEWS

Agenzia Fides report - New meetings and new initiatives
for the inter-religious popular movement "Mussalaha" ("Reconciliation"), which
proposes a "reconciliation from below" starting from families, clans, the
different communities of Syrian civil society, tired of the conflict. While the
country is torn by conflict, peace initiatives and meetings are multiplying,
being born in an entirely spontaneous and independent manner: in past days a new
meeting which involved civic leaders, religious leaders, moderates, Christians
and Muslims, tribal leaders, Sunnis and Alawites citizens of the mosaic that
makes up the Syrian society, was held in Deir Ezzor, in the province of Djazirah
(eastern Syria), near the Euphrates. The movement, note sources of Fides,
intends to say "No" to Civil War and notes that "we cannot continue with a toll
that totals between 40 and 100 victims a day. The nation is bled white, it loses
youth and its best forces." For this reason a new initiative that comes from the
"genius of the people" from people "who want a decent life, who reject sectarian
violence and sectarian denominational strife, as preconceived ideological and
political opposition are urgently required." In many Syrian cities, where on one
side there are clashes and victims - refer sources of Fides - " gestures of
friendship and reconciliation grow, offered by civilian moderate leaders to
community representatives considered hostile (this happens between Alawites and
Sunnis), in the spirit to ensure security and peace through civil society." The
movement hopes to find an institutional reference in the Minister for
Reconciliation, the Socialist Ali Haider, who was appointed the new Syrian
Executive and from the opposition party "People's Will Party."But meanwhile,
it is finding support abroad: the Irish Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize in
1976 with Betty Williams and leader of the movement "The Peace People", in a
statement sent to Fides said "No to war in Syria" , and says: "We must put
ourselves in the shoes of the Syrian people and find peaceful ways to stop this
mad rush toward a war that mothers, fathers and sons of Syria do not want and do
not deserve." The text adds: "We urgently need to support those working for
peace in Syria and are looking for a way to help the 22 million Syrians to
resolve their conflict, without promoting violence or chaos." The Nobel Prize
invites the UN to "be a forum where these Syrian voices are heard" voices of
"people who have worked hard for Syria, to the idea of Syria as a secular,
peaceful and modern country." (PA) (Agenzia Fides 27/6/2012)

The historic records
bearing on St. Paul are fuller than those for any Scriptural saint. We have
Paul's own wonderful writings, the fourteen letters included in the New
Testament, which outline his missionary journeys, exhort and admonish the
various Christian congregations, discuss ethics and doctrinal matters; and in
the midst of all this we get a revelation of the man himself, his inner
character, his problems and fears. St. Luke's Acts of the Apostles and certain
apocryphal books are other sources of our knowledge of St. Paul. Of all the
founders of the Church, Paul was perhaps the most brilliant and many-sided, the
broadest in outlook, and therefore the best endowed to carry Christianity to
alien lands and peoples.Born into a well-to-do Jewish family of Tarsus, the
son of a Roman citizen, Saul (as we shall call him until after his conversion)
was sent to Jerusalem to be trained in the famous rabbinical school headed by
Gamaliel. Here, in addition to studying the Law and the Prophets, he learned a
trade, as was the custom. Young Saul chose the trade of tent-making. Although
his upbringing was orthodox, while still at home in Tarsus he had come under the
liberalizing Hellenic influences which at this time had permeated all levels of
urban society in Asia Minor. Thus the Judaic, Roman, and Greek traditions and
cultures all had a part in shaping this great Apostle, who was so different in
status and temperament from the humble fishermen of Jesus' initial band of
disciples. His missionary journeys were to give him the flexibility and the deep
sympathy that made him the ideal human instrument for preaching Christ's Gospel
of world brotherhood.

In the year 35 Saul appears as a self-righteous
young Pharisee, almost fanatically anti-Christian. He believed that the
trouble-making new sect should be stamped out, its adherents punished. We are
told in Acts vii that he was present, although not a participator in the
stoning, when Stephen, the first martyr, met his death. It was very soon
afterwards that Paul experienced the revelation which was to transform his life.
On the road to the Syrian city of Damascus, where he was going to continue his
persecutions against the Christians, he was struck blind. On arriving in
Damascus, there followed in dramatic sequence his sudden conversion, the cure of
his blindness by the disciple Ananias, and his baptism. Paul accepted eagerly
the commission to preach the Gospel of Christ, but like many another called to a
great task he felt his unworthiness and withdrew from the world to spend three
years in "Arabia" in meditation and prayer before beginning his apostolate. From
the moment of his return, Paul—for he had now assumed this Roman name—never
paused in his labors. It proved to be the most extraordinary career of
preaching, writing, and church-founding of which we have record. The extensive
travels by land and sea, so replete with adventure, are to be traced by anyone
who reads carefully the New Testament letters. We cannot be sure, however, that
the letters and records now extant reveal the full and complete chronicle of
Paul's activities. He himself tells us he was stoned, thrice scourged, thrice
shipwrecked, endured hunger and thirst, sleepless nights, perils and hardships;
besides these physical trials, he suffered many disappointments and almost
constant anxieties over the weak and widely-scattered communities of
Christians.

Paul began his preaching in Damascus. Here the anger of the
orthodox Jews against this renegade was so great that he had to make his escape
by having himself let down from the city wall in a basket. Going down to
Jerusalem, he was there looked on with suspicion by the Jewish Christians, for
they could not at first believe that he who had so lately been their persecutor
had turned advocate. Back in his native city of Tarsus once more, he was joined
by Barnabas, and together they journeyed to Syrian Antioch,[1] where they were
so successful in finding followers that a church, later to become famous in the
annals of early Christianity, was founded. It was here that the disciples of
Jesus were first given the name of Christians (from the Greek ,
anointed). After again returning to Jerusalem to bring aid to members of the
sect who were suffering from famine, these two missionaries went back to
Antioch, then sailed to the island of Cyprus; while there they converted the
Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus. Once more on the mainland of Asia Minor, they
crossed the Taurus Mountains and visited many towns of the interior,
particularly those having Jewish settlements. It was Paul's general practice in
such places first to visit the synagogues and preach to the Jews; if rejected by
them, he would then preach to the Gentiles. At Antioch in Pisidia Paul delivered
a memorable discourse to the Jews, concluding with these words (Acts xiii,
46-47): "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first,
but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold,
we now turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord commanded us, I have set thee for a
light to the Gentiles, to be a means of salvation to the very ends of the
earth." After this, the Jews drove Paul and Barnabas out from their midst, and a
little later the missionaries were back in Jerusalem, where the elders were
debating the attitude of the Christian Church, still predominantly Jewish in
membership, towards Gentile converts. The question of circumcision proved
troublesome, for most Jews thought it important that Gentiles should submit to
this requirement of Jewish law; Paul's side, the more liberal, standing against
circumcision, won out eventually.

The second missionary journey, which
lasted from 49 to 52, took Paul and Silas, his new assistant, to Phrygia and
Galatia, to Troas, and across to the mainland of Europe, to Philippi in
Macedonia. The physician Luke was now a member of the party, and in the book of
Acts he gives us the record. They made their way to Thessalonica, then down to
Athens and Corinth. At Athens Paul preached in the Areopagus, and we know that
some of the Stoics and Epicureans heard him and debated with him informally,
attracted by his vigorous intellect, his magnetic personality, and the ethical
teachings which, in many respects, were not unlike their own. Passing over to
Corinth, he found himself in the very heart of the Graeco-Roman world, and his
letters of this period show that he is aware of the great odds against him, of
the ceaseless struggle to be waged in overcoming pagan skepticism and
indifference. He nevertheless stayed at Corinth for eighteen months, and met
with considerable success. Two valuable workers there, Aquila and Priscilla,
husband and wife, returned with him to Asia. It was during his first winter at
Corinth that Paul wrote the earliest extant missionary letters. They show his
supreme concern for conduct and his belief in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
which gives men power for good.

The third missionary journey covered the
period of 52 to 56. At Ephesus, an important city of Lydia, where the cult of
the Greek-Ionic goddess Diana was very popular, Paul raised a disturbance
against the cult and the trade in silver images of the goddess which flourished
there. Later, in Jerusalem, he caused a commotion by visiting the temple; he was
arrested, roughly handled, and bound with chains; but when he was brought before
the tribune, he defended himself in a way that impressed his captors. He was
taken to Caesarea, for it was rumored that some Jews at Jerusalem, who falsely
accused him of having admitted Gentiles to the temple, were plotting to kill
him. He was kept in prison at Caesarea awaiting trial for about two years, under
the proconsuls Felix and Festus. The Roman governors apparently wished to avoid
trouble with both Jews and Christians and so postponed judgment from month to
month. Paul at last appealed to the Emperor, demanding the legal right of a
Roman citizen to have his case heard by Nero himself. He was placed in the
custody of a centurion, who took him to Rome. The Acts of the Apostles leave him
in the imperial city, awaiting his hearing.

It would appear that Paul's
appeal was successful, for there is some evidence of another missionary journey,
probably to Macedonia. On this last visit to the various Christian communities,
it is believed that he appointed Titus bishop in Crete and Timothy at Ephesus.
Returning to Rome, he was once more arrested, and after two years in chains
suffered martyrdom, presumably at about the same time as the Apostle Peter,
bishop of the Roman Church. Inscriptions of the second and third century in the
catacombs give evidence of a cult of SS. Peter and Paul. This devotion has never
diminished in popularity. In Christian art St. Paul is usually depicted as a
bald man with a black beard, rather stocky, but vigorous and intense. His relics
are venerated in the basilica of St. Paul and in the Lateran Church at
Rome.

Because of the pressure of his work, Paul usually dictated his
letters, writing the salutation in his own hand. The most quoted of New
Testament writers, Paul has given us a wealth of counsel, aphorisms, and ethical
teachings; he had the power of expressing spiritual truths in the simplest of
words, and this, rather than the building up of a systematic theology, was his
contribution to the early Church. A man of action, Paul reveals the dynamic of
his whole career when he writes, "I press on towards the goal, to the prize of
God's heavenly calling in Christ Jesus." Although he himself was forever
pressing onwards, his letters often invoked a spirit of quiet meditation, as
when he ends his epistle to the Philippians with the beautiful lines: "Whatever
things are true, whatever honorable, whatever just, whatever holy, whatever
lovable, whatever of good repute, if there be any virtue, if anything worthy of
praise, think upon these things."

St. Peter is mentioned so
often in the New Testament—in the Gospels, in the Acts of the Apostles, and in
the Epistles of St. Paul—that we feel we know him better than any other person
who figured prominently in the life of the Saviour. In all, his name appears 182
times. We have no knowledge of him prior to his conversion, save that he was a
Galilean fisherman, from the village of Bethsaida or Capernaum. There is some
evidence for supposing that Peter's brother Andrew and possibly Peter himself
were followers of John the Baptist, and were therefore prepared for the
appearance of the Messiah in their midst. We picture Peter as a shrewd and
simple man, of great power for good, but now and again afflicted by sudden
weakness and doubt, at least at the outset of his discipleship. After the death
of the Saviour he manifested his primacy among the Apostles by his courage and
strength. He was "the Rock" on which the Church was founded. It is perhaps
Peter's capacity for growth that makes his story so inspiring to other erring
humans. He reached the lowest depths on the night when he denied the Lord, then
began the climb upward, to become bishop of Rome, martyr, and, finally, "keeper
of the keys of Heaven."

Our first glimpse of Peter comes at the very
beginning of Jesus' ministry. While He was walking along the shore of the Sea of
Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew, casting a net into the
water. When He called to them, "Come, and I will make you fishers of men," they
at once dropped their net to follow Him. A little later we learn that they
visited the house where Peter's mother-in-law was suffering from a fever, and
Jesus cured her. This was the first cure witnessed by Peter, but he was to see
many miracles, for he stayed close to Jesus during the two years of His
ministry. All the while he was listening, watching, questioning, learning,
sometimes failing in perfect faith, but in the end full of strength and
thoroughly prepared for his own years of missionary preaching.

Let us
recall a few of the Biblical episodes in which Peter appears. We are told that
after the miracle of the loaves and fishes, Jesus withdrew to the mountain to
pray, and his disciples started to sail home across the Lake of Galilee.
Suddenly they saw Him walking on the water, and, according to the account in
Matthew, Jesus told them not to be afraid. It was Peter who said, "Lord, if it
is Thou, bid me come to Thee over the water." Peter set out confidently, but
suddenly grew afraid and began to sink, and Jesus stretched forth His hand to
save him, saying, "O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?"

Then we
have Peter's dramatic confession of faith, which occurred when Jesus and his
followers had reached the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Jesus having asked the
question, "Who do men say that I am?" there were various responses. Then Jesus
turned to Peter and said, "But who do you say that I am?" and Peter answered
firmly, "Thou art the Christ, son of the living God." (Matthew xvi, 13-18; Mark
viii, 27-29; Luke ix, 18-20.) Then Jesus told him that his name would henceforth
be Peter. In the Aramaic tongue which Jesus and his disciples spoke, the word
was kepha, meaning rock. Jesus concluded with the prophetic words, "Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock shall be built My church, and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it."

There seems to be no doubt that Peter was
favored among the disciples. He was selected, with James and John, to accompany
Jesus to the mountain, the scene of the Transfiguration, to be given a glimpse
of His glory, and there heard God pronounce the words, "This is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased."After this, the group had gone down to Jerusalem,
where Jesus began to prepare his disciples for the approaching end of his
ministry on earth. Peter chided Him and could not bring himself to believe that
the end was near. When all were gathered for the Last Supper, Peter declared his
loyalty and devotion in these words, "Lord, with Thee I am ready to go both to
prison and to death." It must have been in deep sorrow that Jesus answered that
before cockcrow Peter would deny Him thrice. And as the tragic night unrolled,
this prophecy came true. When Jesus was betrayed by Judas as he prayed in the
Garden of Gethsemane, and was taken by soldiers to the Jewish high priest, Peter
followed far behind, and sat half hidden in the courtyard of the temple during
the proceedings. Pointed out as one of the disciples, Peter three times denied
the accusation. But we know that he was forgiven, and when, after the
Resurrection, Jesus manifested himself to his disciples, He signaled Peter out,
and made him declare three times that he loved Him, paralleling the three times
that Peter had denied Him. Finally, Jesus charged Peter, with dramatic brevity,
"Feed my sheep." From that time on Peter became the acknowledged and responsible
leader of the sect.

It was Peter who took the initiative in selecting a
new Apostle in place of Judas, and he who performed the first miracle of
healing. A lame beggar asked for money; Peter told him he had none, but in the
name of Jesus the Nazarene bade him arise and walk. The beggar did as he was
bidden, cured of his lameness. When, about two years after the Ascension, the
spread of the new religion brought on the persecutions that culminated in the
martyrdom of St. Stephen, many of the converts scattered or went into hiding.
The Apostles stood their ground firmly in Jerusalem, where the Jewish temple had
become the spearhead of opposition to them. Peter chose to preach in the
outlying villages, farther and farther afield. In Samaria, where he preached and
performed miracles, he was offered money by Simon Magus, a magician, if he would
teach the secret of his occult powers. Peter rebuked the magician sternly,
saying, "Keep thy money to thyself, to perish with thee, because thou hast
thought that the gift of God may be purchased by money."With his vigorous
outspokenness, Peter inevitably came into conflict with the Jewish authorities,
and twice the high priests had him arrested. We are told that he was
miraculously freed of his prison chains, and astonished the other Apostles by
suddenly appearing back among them. Peter now preached in the seaports of Joppa
and Lydda, where he met men of many races, and in Caesarea, where he converted
the first Gentile, a man named Cornelius. Realizing that the sect must win its
greatest support from Gentiles, Peter helped to shape the early policy towards
them. Its growing eminence led to his election as bishop of the see of Antioch.
How long he remained there, or how or when he came to Rome, we do not know. The
evidence seems to establish the fact that his last years were spent in Rome as
bishop. The belief that he suffered martyrdom there during the reign of Nero in
the same year as St. Paul is soundly based on the writings of three early
Fathers, St. Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian.[1] The only
writings by St. Peter which have come down to us are his New Testament Epistles
I and II, both of which are thought to have been written from Rome to the
Christian converts of Asia Minor. The First Epistle is filled with admonitions
to mutual helpfulness, charity, and humility, and in general outlines the duties
of Christians in all aspects of life. At its conclusion (I Peter v, 13) Peter
sends greetings from "the church which is at Babylon." This is accepted as
further evidence that the letter was written from Rome, which in the Jewish
usage of the time was called "Babylon." The second Epistle warns against false
teachings, speaks of the Second Coming of the Lord, and ends with the beautiful
doxology, "But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. To him be the glory, both now and the day of eternity."The latest
archeological findings indicate that St. Peter's Church in Rome rises over the
site of his tomb, as Pius XII announced at the close of the Holy Year of 1950.
In the catacombs many wall writings have been found which link the names of St.
Peter and St. Paul, showing that popular devotion to the two great Apostles
began in very early times. Paintings of later date commonly depict Peter as a
short, energetic man with curly hair and beard; in art his traditional emblems
are a boat, keys, and a cock.